Arsenal pulled off a big move late in the summer transfer window by signing England forward Eberechi Eze, who was a reported target of north London rivals Tottenham.
Eze joined from Crystal Palace on Saturday for a reported initial fee of £60 million pounds, taking Arsenal’s spending in this summer transfer window to around £250m – second only to Liverpool across the whole of European football.
For the 27-year-old Eze, it marks a return to the club where he spent some years as a youth-team player before being released at the age of 13.
Fans chanted “one of our own” and gave Eze a standing ovation when he walked out on to the field before kickoff at Arsenal's home match against Leeds, wearing his new team jersey with the number 10 on the back and blowing kisses to the crowd.
Tottenham seemed set to capture Eze after they reportedly reached an agreement with Palace on Wednesday, until the Gunners swooped in to hijack the transfer.
“We are absolutely delighted to bring Eberechi to Arsenal,” said Gunners manager Mikel Arteta.
“He is a powerful and exciting player who will give us a new dimension in our attacking game. What stands out just as much as his talent and intelligence as a player, is the way he has worked hard throughout his career to get where he is today.
“His journey, his mentality, and his ambition are exactly what we want in our team, and we love how much it means to him and his family to be joining our club. We all look forward to start working with Eberechi soon.”
Eze becomes Arsenal's seventh signing of a summer transfer window following the arrivals of Viktor Gyokeres, Cristhian Mosquera, Martin Zubimendi, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Christian Norgaard and Noni Madueke.
Arsenal have finished second in the Premier League for each of the past three seasons and last won a trophy five years ago.
But Eze's signing is a further indication of their determination to end a 22-year wait for the Premier League title.
Eze arrives at the Emirates assured of a place in Palace history after scoring the winning goal in their FA Cup final victory against Manchester City in May to secure the south London club's first major trophy.
A departure this summer was always a possibility given the former Arsenal trainee had entered the final two years of his deal at Selhurst Park and Tottenham moved first earlier this month.
Spurs declined to activate the release clause in Eze's contract with Palace, which expired on the opening day of the Premier League season and after talks failed to progress that weekend, the 27-year-old featured in the 0-0 draw at Chelsea.
A knee injury to Kai Havertz then sparked action from the Gunners. With Eze previously stating his boyhood allegiances to Arsenal, it was a simple choice for the south Londoner once they met Palace's asking price – and one that left Spurs and their fans shocked.
Meanwhile, Viktor Gyokeres fired home his first Arsenal goals in a thumping 5-0 victory over Leeds at the Emirates.
Jurrien Timber opened the scoring from a corner after 34 minutes before Bukayo Saka doubled the home side's advantage on the stroke of half-time.
Gyokeres bounced back from missing a sitter in the opening period to score on his home debut three minutes into the second half. Timber then landed his brace shortly before the hour mark.
Max Dowman, aged 15 years and 234 days, delivered an impressive second-half cameo from the bench when he became the second youngest player to represent Arsenal. And the teenager capped an eye-catching display by winning a penalty for his side in stoppage time which Gyokeres duly converted.
However, on a night of intent from Arsenal there were injury scares for both Bukayo Saka and Martin Odgeaard.
Odegaard fell on his right shoulder early on and never fully recovered, while Saka went down with an apparent hamstring problem in the second half.
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The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
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2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
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September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
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Reform is a right-wing, populist party led by Nigel Farage, a former MEP who won a seat in the House of Commons last year at his eighth attempt and a prominent figure in the campaign for the UK to leave the European Union.
It was founded in 2018 and originally called the Brexit Party.
Many of its members previously belonged to UKIP or the mainstream Conservatives.
After Brexit took place, the party focused on the reformation of British democracy.
Former Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson became its first MP after defecting in March 2024.
The party gained support from Elon Musk, and had hoped the tech billionaire would make a £100m donation. However, Mr Musk changed his mind and called for Mr Farage to step down as leader in a row involving the US tycoon's support for far-right figurehead Tommy Robinson who is in prison for contempt of court.
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Who has lived at The Bishops Avenue?
- George Sainsbury of the supermarket dynasty, sugar magnate William Park Lyle and actress Dame Gracie Fields were residents in the 1930s when the street was only known as ‘Millionaires’ Row’.
- Then came the international super rich, including the last king of Greece, Constantine II, the Sultan of Brunei and Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal who was at one point ranked the third richest person in the world.
- Turkish tycoon Halis Torprak sold his mansion for £50m in 2008 after spending just two days there. The House of Saud sold 10 properties on the road in 2013 for almost £80m.
- Other residents have included Iraqi businessman Nemir Kirdar, singer Ariana Grande, holiday camp impresario Sir Billy Butlin, businessman Asil Nadir, Paul McCartney’s former wife Heather Mills.
Hunting park to luxury living
- Land was originally the Bishop of London's hunting park, hence the name
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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